Dark Love: Resolution
by Tela
Summary: Suddenly, both knight and priest were over the edge and hurtling toward the water. Only a raspy cackle gave away the one that pushed them to their deaths. Apparently, the Lord of the Dead had a terrible sense of humor.


Mmm sequelicious. Hopefully you all enjoy this as much as Dark Love. QUICK! TO THE REPLIES OF DL's CHAPTER 16, BATMAN!

Pepper: I call it karma xD

Anonymous: Yes, the dead ones will play a large part in the sequel. (insert drama!) Luz and Angela will have one kid during the sequel. The rest come later. I'll write more about them in Priests and Angels.

**_Note_**: If you haven't read Dark Love, you really should read it before you read this because you'll likely be confused. ONWARD!

* * *

**Dreams of Life**

It had been roughly two months since the bulk of the Izlude repairs were finished. The satellite city had mostly gone back to normal. Angela had returned to Payon with Luzien and married just over a month ago. The event itself was rather entertaining for a number of reasons. Mostly, it was amusing to see Luzien's reaction when she told him they were expecting a baby.

She hadn't expected him to faint! Nonetheless, he slowly embraced the fact. It seemed he was more worried about what sort of father he would be, a good or bad one. Honestly, she wasn't worried in the least. Once you got past his terrible perverted habits, he was genuinely a very good person.

Things were going quite well for everyone it seemed. This made Angela smile when she thought about it. There had been so much pain for everyone. There was only one little thing that worried her.

It was the presence of Lord of the Dead. The feeling had not gone away since she first sensed it. Now she was sure that she wasn't imagining things since she couldn't shake the feeling. It made her wonder just why their Lord had not gone back to whatever other worldly place he resided in. What could he possibly need now that everything was right again?

--

Akio was feeling a little apprehensive as he watched Mira in the main hall. He and Kieran had been spending quite a bit of time at Skyhaven to attempt to repair the bond with their younger brother. They weren't, however, expecting Mira to visit. What struck him was how miserable she still looked. She had the same expression, or lack of, when he last saw her.

He had asked Kaeru why she looked that way the first time, but his brother didn't give him much of an answer. He only said she was upset and that her mother and aunt were missing. It seemed to the knight that Kaeru was withholding a few facts. Most likely, it was none of his business anyway. Still, Mira concerned him. He did want to ask her on a date but there never seemed to be a good time. As he thought about his situation, he also remembered Kaeru's words about her being selective. He had gotten an idea about getting around that.

A few weeks back he had started doing a little research on Mira's mother and Aunt. He didn't think they were dead. If they were, they would have found some sort of evidence by now. The house had been abandoned when he visited. It was mildly fire damaged, but not enough to have killed anyone.

He did find something that might give Mira a little hope. He had found a series of slightly scorched letters that he managed to piece a few parts together. It looked to be a correspondence between Mira's mother, Alice, and another person. He held tightly onto those salvaged pieces as he ambled over to Mira.

She was sitting at a table reading, her chin resting on one hand. She didn't seem to notice his approach. He gently reached out and tapped her shoulder. She lifted her head and glanced upward to Akio.

"Oh, hey there," she mumbled.

"Didn't mean to bother you, I just had something I wanted to show you."

"Oh? It's not a bother," she managed to crack a small smile. "What did you want to show me, Akio?"

The knight held out the charred bits of paper and took a deep breath. He really hoped he wouldn't upset her. She reached out, gingerly took the paper, and looked the scraps over. "I found them and thought you might want to see. I don't think your mom is dead. I think she got out of Izlude. I don't know where, but the person she was writing to is mentioned a few times. She could be with him. Maybe his name rings a bell?"

"I…I don't know. I may have heard the name but it's not familiar." She placed the papers on the table and stared down at her hands. She wasn't sure how to feel. She had a lead, but it was so small. Lead or no lead, the possibility of her having hurt her mother and aunt made her stomach sink.

Akio was near panic when she looked away from the letters. This went very wrong. He didn't want to upset her and he did. _Idiot!_ He wrung his hands together in frustration, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought—"

"Akio, it's fine. Really. I'm glad you brought this to me. It's just…" she trailed off, hesitant to continue. "Never mind, I don't want to bore you with my guilty conscience."

The knight fumbled for a response. _Think, stupid! _He suddenly plopped down in the chair to Mira's right "I'm all ears. Maybe it'd do you good to tell someone and get it off your chest. I don't mind at all."

She remained silent for a long moment before she sighed softly. "Well, when Alex took the guild to Izlude at the doppelganger's request, we hurt so many people. _I_ hurt a lot of people." Her hands balled balled into fists as she looked down. "I-I don't...what if I hurt them? What i-if I killed my mother? Or my aunt? I couldn't..."she trailed off, trying her hardest not to cry.

Akio leaned over, laying his hands on her shoulders. "I feel terrible even asking you to tell me that. I'm really sorry, Mira."

She sniffled a little. "It's not your fault. So, would you help me look for them?"

"Of course! I promise not to upset you anymore," he replied instantly.

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Akio. Maybe Kae is right. You don't seem so bad."

--

Luzien yawned, flopping onto his back and pushing the bed covers away from him. It was still dark, but for some reason he woke up. That just never happened. He never had trouble sleeping. Ever. With a groan, he sat up, eyes adjusting to the dark room. Something was not quite right.

He blinked. It was still there. Then he lay down, closed his eyes, opened them again and sat up. No change. The big armored skeleton was still there at the foot of the bed. "Angela?" He nudged his new wife. She stirred and smacked his hand away.

"Not now, Luz. I'm not in the m--"

"That's not what I'm waking you up for. There's, um, a big skeleton staring at me. He's like, all ominous and dark and creepy."

She sighed and sat up, glowering at the priest. "It was just a dream, go back to sleep, okay?" Luzien motioned toward the skeletal creature. Angela slowly turned her head. "Oh...I guess you weren't dreaming." She pulled the blanket closer and stared back at the armored skeleton. What was he doing in their _bedroom_?

"So," Luzien began, "you're scary to begin with, but this is just plain creepy. Comin' in our room in the dead of night and leering at--"

Angela gasped and clapped a hand over her husband's mouth. "Luzien! Shut up!" Turning back to what was apparently the Lord of the Dead she spoke carefully. "What do you need...sir?"

Not amused, the Lord of the Dead shifted, armoring clanking noisily in the quiet room. "There is a disturbance. Come with me." He turned and walked out of the bedroom, apparently heading to the living room. The couple looked at one another, both puzzled at the appearance of the Lord of the Dead.

Angela hopped out of bed, dragging Luzien with her. She yanked her robe off the hook behind the door and hastily tied it. Her husband yawned. "What do you think he wants?"

She shrugged. "Obviously something important. I doubt he'd come here if it wasn't. Hurry up." She left the room, Luzien following sluggishly behind. He was still tired. He shuffled down the stairs and joined Angela who was already sitting on the couch. Their Lord stood motionless in front of them.

"I will tell you the situation and you will not interrupt me and you will ask no questions until I allow you to do so." He stared at Luzien as he said this. "When the doppelganger was destroyed and the undead finally died, they did not ascend. They should have, but they did not. Rather than allowing them to persist in their current states, they were given an illusion. A sort of dream."

He paused for a moment, thinking of the best way to explain the situation. "In this illusion, they believe they are alive and in a way, they are. However, is is not real. They would have been able to remain in this blissful and ignorant state if none of them remembered the truth. There are those that have begun to remember. You may speak."

Angela spoke up first. "What exactly are you needing us to do?"

"There is a possibility that their dream may continue if those that remember are found and dealt with accordingly. I need send you to into this "dream" of theirs and find them. We can deal those that we seek when they are found. There is one thing hindering us at this point in time."

Angela frowned. "And that is?"

"You. I cannot say how this would affect your child. You must remain here. Unfortunately, that only leaves us to depend on _him. _This task is better suited for two people so you will have to find another to replace you." He was obviously displeased having to rely on Luzien instead of Angela.

Luzien raised his hand. The other two turned to him. "So who are we supposed to find to replace Angela?"

"Someone you can trust _fully_. There is no room for error. I will explain further when you arrive in Umbala."

"Umbala?" Luzien and Angela echoed. Then, the Lord of the Dead was gone.

--

"So you found someone to help us?"

"Yep, it was easy. They'll be a lot of help," Luzien replied. He had no doubts about his choice. The morning after the visit, Luzien had made a list of people he could most definitely trust. He quickly crossed out his friends from the fallen Silver Crest guild. They would have emotional attachments if they happened to run into someone they knew. After a some consideration, there were two names on the list. They would be perfect.

"_They_?" Angela echoed. They only needed one person to replace her since she couldn't go with Luzien.

"Yeah. They should be here any minute."

Then they heard a crash and the splintering of wood just outside of the house. Angela's eyes widened as she heard numerous screeches and the clanging of metal followed by a victorious cackle. She rushed to the front door and flung it open. "Luzien! Who the hell did you find?"

A young man lay on the ground, flailing under the arms of a much smaller woman. Both were knights and the young woman had the man in a fierce headlock. "Say uncle, you cheap bastard!" the female knight shouted, tightening her grip around his neck.

"No! You...damn midget! Let...go...of me!" he choked out.

Luzien appeared behind the paladin, laughing. "Lucienne, don't choke your brother to death."

"But he--oh fine." She released the chokehold on her brother and stood up, dusting herself off. "Get up, stupid," she ordered, nudging the other knight in the ribs with her boot. He immediately grabbed her foot and pulled her off her feet. She yelped as she hit the ground with a noisy thud. Her brother took the moment to sit on her back and casually crossed his arms.

"So Luz, how's it going?"

Angela simply sighed and retreated back into the house, very concerned about her smashed fence and trampled flowers. Luzien laughed and extended a hand to help the knight up. "You'll kill your sister at this rate. C'mon, Rem." The high priest pulled the knight up and helped Lucienne up as she gasped for air.

"You oversized orc! Sure, let your dear sister suffocate to death why don't you? You are a horrible person." Her brother shrugged and disappeared into the house with a grin. Luzien followed, making sure to put space between the two siblings. They found Angela sitting on the couch, looking exasperated.

"You _are_ going to fix my fence that you two smashed, you know," she said, eying the two. "And replanting the part of my garden that you crushed."

The siblings glanced at each other and back to Angela. Lucienne grinned sheepishly. "Ahh, yeah, about that. Sorry. Nearly half of our paychecks go toward fixing things we accidentally destroy anyway...but in any case, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Lucienne Larson, knight extraordinaire." She bowed and elbowed her brother.

He snorted and elbowed her back. "Knight extraordinaire my ass." He stepped up to Angela and nodded. "I'm Remiel Larson--"

"Idiot extraordinaire!" Lucienne laughed, nudging Remiel. "He's my little brother, just so you know. Don't let the height fool you. I'm the older and far more mature one."

_Mature_? Angela wasn't so sure about that. Lucienne was indeed rather short while her brother was quite tall. Not Luzien's height, but not too far off. The two siblings really didn't look much alike either. Both had hazel eyes, but Lucienne was blond and had a round faced innocent look (obviously good cover!) and Remiel had dark hair and a leaner structure.

Angela could already tell that these two were trouble by the similar mischievous look on their faces. Her poor fence was proof. She should have known Luzien would find help like them. "Well," she sighed, "How did you find them, Luz? Surely they're not random people off the street? We have to be able to trust them completely. We also just need one of them." She looked to her husband hopefully.

He shook his head. "I've known Luci for a while. I would've brought just her, but she and Rem always work together. You can't really separate them. You wouldn't be able to find anyone better though! Right Luci? We figured Rem could stay with you and relay messages to and from you and us. Me and Luci can take care of business over on the other side."

Lucienne nodded in agreement. "Rem'll make sure you don't stress yourself with extra work. Luz and I can take care of everything with ol' creepy skeleton guy."

Angela blanched. "Old creepy skeleton guy is _Lord of the Dead_. Please don't take him lightly. I suppose this will be all right though. Are you sure you're up for it? I somehow don't think this will be a walk in the park and I hate for you two to be stuck in the middle of this."

"No worries. Luz and I can handle anything," the knight said.

"God forbid there's a good looking man and woman that catch your eyes and you both get distracted. You're both shameless when it comes to the opposite gender," Remiel sighed, rolling his eyes. Both Luzien and Lucienne gasped. Angela groaned as she realized Lucienne probably got along with Luzien because they were alike in personality. Remiel turned to Angela and shrugged, "Bunch of pervs those two are. Not much we can do though."

"Hey Rem, don't you have to be in Alberta by noon?"

Remiel stared at his sister for a moment. "...what--"

"It's fifteen 'til noon," she answered before he could finish. He swore and ran out of the house. Angela looked at the clock hanging across the room and back to Lucienne with a disapproving frown. The knight shrugged and smiled smugly. "Yeah, I know it's only fifteen til _eleven_. That's what he gets for sitting on me."

"You're a little evil sometimes, Luci."

"Should we be leaving for Umbala?" she asked. Turning to Angela, she smiled. "Rem will be by tomorrow morning. We left him with instructions and if you need anything, feel free to order him around."

"All right. Luz, please, can you behave while you're gone?"

He laughed and wrapped her in a hug. "I'll try. Can't promise anything. Then again, ol' creepy might tattle on me."

--

"So, uh, does this really work? I mean, I'm not one to jump off a bridge just because everyone else is doing it. I sort of want to be alive when this is all over," Lucienne said as she peered over the edge of the boarded walkway. It was a long, long way down and they were going to _jump_. Into shallow water. With sharp rocks at the bottom. Who the hell in their right mind would be doing this when they weren't sure they would really live?

Luzien shrugged in response."Well, he said that in order to do what we need to do, we have to be, you know, _dead_. The portal we need is down there," he gestured to the shallow watery plunge below them, "And technically, you die as you pass through. Once we're "dead", we'll be able to see the second portal in Nifflheim that'll take us to where ever it is he's taking us."

She nodded slowly. "And we'll be _alive_ when this is all done? I'm so not doing this if that bag of bones can't bring us back to life."

"We'll be alive. I died once and he brought me back. Angela too."

Lucienne balked. "Seriously? You were dead? Why wasn't I ever told this?" He laughed and waved her off. She thought for a moment and nodded slowly. He really was alive still. "Okay then. Let's do this."

But neither budged. They looked at one another and then down to the water. "After you, Luci. You're braver tha--"

"No, no. This is yo--"

Suddenly both knight and priest were over the edge and hurtling toward the water. Only a raspy cackle gave away the one that pushed them to their deaths. Apparently, the Lord of the Dead had a terrible sense of humor.


End file.
